College Students! discussion
Reading Goals/ Challenges
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Spring/Summer 2013 Task Ideas
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Although plays are short, I feel they are neglected in the reading realm. A reading challenge could be:Read 3 or other amount of plays by one playwright.
June 4th, is National Do-Dah Day (Salute To Silliness) So read a funny/comedic book. It could also be a bio of a comedian.
Blind Date: Go to the library and pick a book from the shelves at random. Without reading the summary or anything from the book, check it out from the library and then cozy up with your "blind date" at home (some college libraries were doing something similar for Valentine's Day and had posted about it on Pinterest, and I thought it sounded like fun!)
Hot Reads: Read a book off of a summer reading list (and share which list you picked from when you claim your points)
Melissa wrote: "June 4th, is National Do-Dah Day (Salute To Silliness) So read a funny/comedic book. It could also be a bio of a comedian."I like this suggestion!
Here are a few more:
• Spring Cleaning- Read book that has been on your TBR list the longest
• Earth Day- Read a book about nature/ the environment
• Author Awareness- Read a book with an author’s name in the title
• Island Time- Read a book set on an island
• Take A Vacation (2 book challenge from spring/summer 2011): For this task, we are going to build a vacation. Use this (http://www.random.org/dice/) to roll the die to see what you get. Set the die to roll 2 die at a time. For this first book, you will need to read a book set on that continent. The next roll will decide what kinds of things you will be doing on your vacation. You can only roll once.
Use this to roll the die:
Location:
1. North America-
2. South America-
3. Africa
4. Asia
5. Australia
6. Europe
1. History & Culture— Your vacation is all about experiencing the culture and history of a foreign land. Read a book that revolves around an important historical event or person or read a non-fiction book about anything history/culture related.
2. Cruise – Your vacation is all about having a nautical adventure. Read a book that mostly takes place on the water.
3. Romantic— Your vacation is all about having a romantic getaway. Read a book that is considered a "love story" or a romance.
4. Thrillseeker/Adventure – Your vacation is all about having an adventure. Read a book where the main character has some sort of planned/unplanned adventure or read an adventure novel.
5. Foodie Vacation—Your vacation is all about immersing yourself in the food and drink of the country you are in. Read a book where food is a central theme to the book –fiction or non-fiction.
6. Volunteer Work – Your vacation is all about experiencing another culture by helping its people. Read a book about somebody who is doing some sort of humanitarian work/missions work in a foreign country.
I've been looking around other Goodreads groups for task ideas, and I found some interesting ones:Cinco de Mayo: Read a book that is #5 in a series as identified on Goodreads OR read a book that a Goodreads' friend rated 5 stars
Attention Grabber: Read a book with an opening sentence that really grabs your attention. You can check out the College Students' thread first lines for ideas. You can also look at the list Best 100 Opening Lines and the listopia Best Opening Sentence.
Hope Springs Eternal: Hope springs eternal means to continue to hope even in the face of certain disappointment. Read a book by an author that has disappointed you you in the past, but who you are willing to give another chance.
Purple for Peace: As May 16th is Wear Purple for Peace Day, read a book with something purple on the cover. Lavender and shades of purple work.
Storm Chasers: In the US, spring is a common time for tornadoes. Read a book set in a "Tornado Alley" state: Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, or a "Dixie Alley" state: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky.
Above Average: Find your book rating average on your profile page (below the picture on the upper left) and read a book with a rating at or above that number. If your average rating is 4.5 you may use any book rated 4.5 or above
Hug a Tree: National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April. In honor of Arbor Day, read a book with a tree on the cover.
Feeling Possessive?: Read a book with a possessive noun in its title or subtitle. Examples: The Shape-Changer's Wife, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet
Batter Up!: In the U.S., baseball is the commonly thought of exciting spring sport, but in other parts of the world, other sports are the focus in the spring. Read a book, fiction or non-fiction, involving your favorite spring sport.
Blowin' in the Wind: Read a book with a picture of something that can be carried by the wind on its cover. Examples: balloons, clouds, sand, flying birds, other flying animals/creatures (can be mythological)
Eat an Oreo Day: June 19th is Eat an Oreo Day. Read a book with a word in the title or subtitle with one letter “sandwiched” between two of the same letters- “celebrate” E-L-E, “latitude” T-I-T, “obsidian” I-D-I
Air Conditioned Cool: Air Conditioning Appreciation Week is the 3rd week in August- Cool off and read a book set in winter OR with snow or ice (any form- ice cubes, ice skating rink, etc) on the cover.
Some 2 Book tasks:Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer: Read two books with different words in their titles that rhyme with each other. The words you use should be “pure rhymes.” Examples: Beat the Reaper and Heat Wave (Beat and Heat); Zoo Station and The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget's Thesaurus (Station and Creation)
Follow the Leader: For Book 1, read a book of your choice.
For Book 2, read a book that is either mentioned specifically in the text of book 1, or is written by an author mentioned in the text of book 1.
For the Love of Reading: April 23 is World Book Night, an event designed to share the love of reading with those who may not have access to books.
Read 2 books- 1 A and 1 B
A. Read a book by an author with a book on the 2013 US book list
If you select Favorite American Poems, you may use any book of poetry.
B. Read a book by an author with a book on the 2013 UK & Ireland book list
It's Spring Cleaning Time!: We may live in opposite parts of the country but we both have the dreaded spring cleaning ahead of us. Please help us accomplish our goal by completing 2 different options from the list below.
Option 1: Let's start by sorting and decluttering. Sort your To Be Read/Want to Read list by date added and read one of the 25 books that has been on the list the longest.
Option 2: Clean up a series that you are wanting to finish by reading any book that is part of a series.
Option 3: Sweep things under the rug where they can't be seen. Read a book with mystery listed on its homepage.
Option 4: We DO Windows - read a book with a window on the cover.
Option 5: We need help! We wish we could hire a maid. Read a book that is "maid for love" and has romance listed on its homepage.
School's Out For Summer: Summer is a time for sunshine and outdoor activities. It is a time for vacations and lazy days. Most significantly, it is when “School’s out for summer”!
Read a book from two different options:
Option 1: School's out for summer
Read a book that takes place during the summer, or while the main character is on vacation. Alternatively read a book that has a beach or a summer scene on the cover.
Option 2: School's out forever
Read a book in which the main characters have recently graduated from school (high school or university), or are beginning a new career or job and the job is a significant aspect of the story. Non-fiction job search/interview books would also work for this option
Option 3: School's been blown to pieces
Read a book in which a bomb or explosion of some type is a significant aspect. Alternatively, read a book in which there is an explosion or bomb on the cover, i.e. object exploding, flashes of light, shrapnel, mushroom clouds, etc.
Option 4: No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks
Read a book that is about a teacher, or someone who works in an educational field. Alternatively, read a book which takes place at a boarding school, or is about students who attend a boarding school.
Let's Go Camping: When I think summer, I think camping.
Read a book from 2 different options:
1.S’mores – S’mores are a common camping treat. But s’more is not really a word, at least not according to Word; it gives you the red squiggly line when you type it. Read a book that has a word in the title, subtitle, or series name that gives you a red squiggly. It cannot be a person’s name or a place. Examples: Mockingjay, Skinwalker, Darkfever or words like ain’t and wanna, Wanna Get Lucky?.
2.Campfire – some people tell ghost stories around the campfire, but I'm sure many us booklovers would prefer to talk books. Read a “talked” about book. Examples: Fifty Shades of Grey and The Hunger Games are current “talked” about books (on TV, in magazines, and highly reviewed). Book club recommended reads would work, as would books someone talks to you about and recommends and Goodreads recommendations
3. Bump-in-the-night – So, I am normally a heavy sleeper that is until we go camping and every little sound makes me jump. Read a book that makes you jump in alarm. You don't have to literally "jump;" books that are listed as horror, zombie or sound like they will be creepy via their description or reviews are fine.
4. The family - Read a book about a family that goes on a vacation/trip together.
Great ideas so far everyone! Keep them coming!
Ideas:1. Broke and Bookish - read a book that has been given away (or reviewed) on the Broke and Bookish blog.
2. If Huck could do it... - Read a book first published in the 1800s.
I had a couple of good ones a while ago. I'll have to think of them again.
2. If Huck could do it... - Read a book first published in the 1800s. I love the title for that task, David! :)
All right, cool. I am going to start working on putting this together this afternoon and will send it off to Tami tomorrow or Thursday, so you have just over 24 hours to come up with any more brilliant ideas.
I am looking forward to new motivation, I fell off the wagon with the Fall/Winter Challenge.
Ha ha! I totally relate with Melissa. Life just got so busy. I am looking forward to the new challenge!
Someone else who is better qt coming up with titles can think of something I'm sure, but this are the two I've come up with.What about reading a book, be it fiction or nonfiction, on religion due to the recent election of a new pope today.
Another idea I had was reading a book about a "hero", due to the rise in popularity of superheroes with the comic book based movies with more coming out this year. You could make it a 2 part challenge if you wanted by having people read about a real life hero and then reading about a fictional hero.
Although Easter is in March this year, it is typically in April, so...Similar to the current Scavenger Hunt task you could do an Easter Egg Hunt with something Easter related on the cover (i.e. eggs, bunnies, white shoes, bonnet, basket, church, cross, etc).
For inspiration, feel free to look through past challenges to see what has been done.